As the NHL reaches the quarter mark of the season, the Flyers sit right in the thick of things. At 10-6-3, they are firmly in the playoff race. It's too early to make anything of that, but they are playing well enough to keep themselves in the conversation.
And by being in the playoff hunt, it brings up the conversation of trying to improve the roster to give themselves a better chance at competing. The team isn't looking to take any more steps backward at this time. Danny Briere and company want to see that everyone is moving in the same direction.
And that doesn't always come with internal competition. Sometimes teams need to look outside their organization for help. And while the Flyers aren't necessarily one move away from being a contender, they could use some help.
On a recent episode of 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman threw out the thought that the Flyers might be looking to add someone down the middle.
"It's not the biggest thing, but I did hear from a couple of places that Philly's looking for another center. Maybe more of a depth guy as much as anything else, but definitely another center."
There wasn't much more than that, but Friedman wouldn't throw out that nugget of information if there wasn't something behind it. He added that he was formulating some more thoughts on the Flyers down the line, so there could be another discussion coming soon.
Before looking at potential options, the Flyers have nearly 10M in available cap space. They do have just over 5M tied up in retention slots, but that will come off the books after the season. As well as the nearly 2M from the Cam Atkinson buyout. And they will have quite a few decisions to make regarding current roster players.
While that won't help them this season, any money potentially coming off the books could give them an idea of the type of player they want to bring in. They would likely want someone who wouldn't block any incoming prospects. And it would be tough to see them bringing anyone in with a long-term contract.
So right away, that almost certainly takes options like Brayden Schenn, Ryan O'Reilly, or Nazem Kadri off the table. Schenn, while fitting the depth option, won't be a free agent until 2028 and makes 6.5M. The Blues don't have the cap space to retain unless the Flyers make the money work on their end. Kadri is in a similar boat to Schenn. He has three years remaining and a 7M cap hit. O'Reilly only has one more year after this season at 4.5M, but he almost certainly wants to go to a contender if agreeing to a trade.
Chris Johnston recently released a trade board (subscription required) that features the top 25 targets to watch. And with more than a few teams looking for center help, it could be a fight for the Flyers to find what they need. And aside from the top options mentioned above, there may not be a ton of help.
The best depth option potentially available could be Alexander Wennberg. He is on an expiring contract and can be looked at as an all-situations player. He has been through this before, on his fourth team since 2020. Chipping in around 30 points as a depth player is nothing to complain about either
It may not be a move that the Flyers make right away, as they are only 19 games into their season. But this could be something to keep an eye on as things progress.